Thomas Harriot, on the other hand, wrote A Brief and True Report, telling us of his discoveries in the new world. This text is the exact opposite of the Pima Creation stories and the Winnebago Trickster Cycle. His writing is put very matter of factly, as he is journaling of all of these new experiences to further Europe's knowledge on the new world.
What I find interesting about these selections is that they both discuss the Native American religion. The tales of old that used to only be told orally so long ago are clearly their explanations for creation, their parables, etc. Harriot brings us something interesting to think on. After describing in great detail their homes, tools, clothing, and culture, he discusses their religion. From A Brief and True Report, page 50:
"Some religion they have already, which although it is far from the truth, yet being as it is, there is hope it may be easier and sooner reformed. They believe that there are many gods, which they call Mantoac, but of different sorts and degrees, one only chief and great God, who has been from all eternity. Who (as they affirm) when he purposed to make the world, made first other gods of a principal order to be as means and instruments to be used in the creation and government to follow..."Such are the tidbits we find in their Creation and Trickster tales. These gods are supposedly powerful and creative, able to undo their creation in a simple gesture. The stories of their gods sounds much like the creation story in the Bible, yet readers are assured in the foreword that they are not related whatsoever, though they admit that the natives may have heard of the Biblical creation story at some point in time. Perhaps this is why they "were brought into great doubts of their own [faith]" (page 52) when they witnessed the Europeans' own religion (Christianity). Their stories actually greatly reflect the stories of the Bible, and their easy ability to doubt their own religion causes me to wonder. It is common knowledge that oral stories are gradually changed over time. The story is really never the same twice in a row; and so perhaps these natives had actually heard of the God of the Bible, and over time the biblical creation story had been turned into a completely altered story as it was told again and again. These are my thoughts on these two texts.
